THE COLUMBIAN.
Published Evert Frjoat,
' AT
ST. HELENS, COLUMBIA CO.. OR.. ,
BT
E. G. ADAMS, Editor and Proprietor
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Published Evert Fhidat,
at
ST. HELENS. COLUMBIA CO., OR.,
BT
E. G. AD AIIS, Editor and Proprietor.
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ST. '-.HELENS,: COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON, MAY 1, 1885.
VOL. V.
NO. 39.
THE COLUMBIAN.
A MAN'S SPHERES.
When man's a babe and baa to crawl,
What is it that makes crazy all?
Ilia bawL
When he's a boy and fall of fun,
What does be bit you with and ran?
Snow.-ball.
When he's a yonth what does he play
To malm himself and comrades gay.'
li&se-bali.
When a young man and fond of arlrl 9.
What keeps him up all night In whirls?
A ball.
What sends a flutter to bis heart -
And fixes In It Cupid's dart?
Eye-balls.
When. fond of poker, dress and smoke.
What helps him out when he Is "broke?"
Three balls.
At college, at his pa's expense.
What does be learn to show his sene?
Foot-ball.
What takes his money every nl?bt.
And makes him swear and drink and flffht?
Billiard -bllia.
W hut does his landlady, sedate,
l'ass bim each morning on a plate?
Fish-balls.
When lie Is old and wisdom knows.
What is the proof of It be shows?
lie ad-ball -d.
And then, just when be wants to stay,
What Is it be must leave alway?
Terrestrial ball.
. C. Dodge, in Chicago Sua.
A COLORADO PIONEER.
His Experience As a Professional
Prospector.
It Makes Him Tired" to Hear Tender.
feet-Talk About the Business A
Letter Tbat a Young: Man in
the East Wrote nun.
It sounded like brass knuckles, that
rap on the door last evening; when, in
resporse to a correspondingly vigorous
come in," a stalwart, pleasant-faced
man, clad in aslickens'de canvas suit,
entered with resounding step, sugges
tive of robust health and hob-nailed
Doots, ana in ringing tones mqu.reu:
"Are jou the mining sharp of this
here paper?"
-Yes; take a seat and tell me all
about it."
'Tell you all about what?"
"Why. a our big strike, of course;
how many thousands of dollars it runs
and you only want a capitalist with a
few hundred dollars and lots of grub
to make it the biggest bonanza in Colo
rado." , .
"Now, hold on. pard. you're dead off
the trail tbs shift; I dnly want to show
vou a letter."
"Oh, that's it; your pard has struck
it, and you want to sell an interest to
go and join him and stake off the whole
country."
"No, vou're on the wrong lead again
I've got" a letter from a tenderfoot who
wants to come out here and prospect
for mines."
"Well, why don't you let him come
es one of the" grand army of prospec
tors who swarm through the gulches
and climb the rugged peaks of our
mountain ranges?"
"You've caught on. that's the float,
follow it up and you'll hit the vein
cropping right through the surface."
"Tenderfeet make the beat kind of
prospectors, don't they?"
"Pard. now you're on the pay streak
to a dead, moral certainty, and I'll do
the assessment work for you free gratis
for nothin' if you'll put it in the paper
in good shape, so that I can send it to
ruy darn fool fr;end back in the
States."
"All right, fire away, and make it
short."
"Well, this chap writes that times
is dull back thar and they are cuttin'
wage3 down he's a clerk in a dry
goods store and so he says he'll qu t.
come out here, fir.d a rich mine and go
back thar and sell it."
"What's wrong about that? Ain't
he as liable to find a good mine as any
body?" "Now you're gittin' right down to
bed-rock business. It's all wrong, both
in theory and in practice. Nobody
finds a mine. It takes money, anil
lots of it, to change the best kind of
a good prospect into a paying nv.ne."
"Oh. your friend don't mean a mine
he means a prospect."
"P'raps he does, but it takes money
to prospect, and he's in luck if he has
money enough to pay his fare to Den
ver." "He's got more money than that or
he would not think of coming so far to
astrange country and an equally strange
business."
"Now, there's whar you're fooled.
Lots of fellers come out here every
blessed season, knowin' nothin' about
niinin or prospcct'n', and land with
out scads enough to buy grub for a
burro."
-I thought burros foraged and didn't
tequire feeding."
"That's so. but they don't grow with
pack-saddles on and clinch ropes and
sacks hang n' to 'em. A feller can't
mine with his fingers and liveon moun
tin' scenery and trout in streams ten
miles or more, from whar he's got to
look for prospects if he wants to find
any." -
All good m ning ground is not nec
cssar ly high up on the mountains, ami
therj ceita'nly are good placer dig
gings yet to be found along the streams
and tn the gulches of the State."
"Go eay, pard; thar's some truth,
but lots of foolishness, in what you say.
The bisrtrest part of the gold, s'lver.
copper and lead m.ncd in this country
come off the mountains, not out of nice,
smooth, level places. What soft snaps
weuo lying around loose l.ke have al
ready been corraled by fellers who,
through 3 oars of actual experience,
learned their value; and now, as a rule,
new ground means new ground, and
that's on the mountains, and in out-of-.
tl.e-way places."
. "But that don't prevent tenderfeet
from discovering them?"
"Guess vou never saw tenderfeet
prospeetiaV
Tell me how they do it?"
Can't only mention them in a gen
eral way, it would take so long; but
commonly, the fellers who are staked
by their friends have a nvghty good
t'mefoolin' around, and if they find any
thing it's by downright, nigger luck.
I've heard "'em say. lots of times, that
they wouldn't climb that mountain for
all the wealth in it. But, if one is spunky,
or tough enough to do it, he couldn't
tell pay from county rock, 'cos he ain't
had the experience. I showed a feller
some of the richest 'horn' I ever saw,
and he looked disgusted like."
"Yes. but these men do sometimes
get hold of good claims."
"They occasionally do, but their's
the exceptions, and they catch on by
trailing the old prospectors, getting
Boat like theirs, and takin' their advice
about locating."
Were vou ever 'staked' by tender
feet?"
"Yes. in '80 two 'cute' chaps 'put up'
for me to go to the R'co excitement,
and it would have been a good thing all
around if they hadn't had so much
money and went along."
"Had too much moneyr v nat oo
j ou mean?"
"Well, ou see. one was a carpenter
and the other a grocery clerk, and they
wanted to do things in what they called
systematic busiuess style.' The car
penter said a town would be built if
mines were gooJ. and so he took a full
kit of tools and kegs of na'ls, bolt,
b.iri of steel, vise, and a full black
smith outfit, and loading 'em in a
wagon, while the grocery fellow took
six months' grub for all the workmen
h3 thought we'd need for build'ng a
g-od part of the town, and for the
miners on our mines. They said it was
better to buy these necessary things
where th-y were cheap, and so they
bought about SI. 500 worth of this kind
of truck bes'des min ng tools and a
hundred feet of rope. I most died
laughing in my sleeve, and I thought I
had joined a freightirT outfit."
"Well, how did It pan but?"
"We hauled that cargo over to Gun
nison, 'cos they said we must go that
way, and it tickled me most to death
to "see 'em pay toll on that wagon
and hire teamsters to double'em up the
hills. It cost them more money for
toll on that baggage-wagon than I
would have wanted for my season's
outfit."
"What did you do when you got to
Rico?"
"We never got to Rico."
"Why not?"
"The main reason was that there
wasn't no wagon road at that time, and
I told 'em so before we left Denver, but
they said one would be built by the
time we got to Gunnison, or if not. we
could cut our wav through or else go
to Goth'c. I kinder got stuck af:er
those fellers, Ihev was so liberal; spent
their money freely and let me cook the
grub, and so I just picknicked with
them all summer, and lost the whole
season."
"But what did they do when they
found they could not get through to
Rico by that route?"
"They acted like sensible fellers then,
as the romance was pretty well knocked
out of 'em by the trip over Marshall
pass, and the Gunn'son freighters and
merchants bo lght their stuff at less
than Denver prices, freight o3T, and
they concluded their experience was
worth what it cost, and didn't kick
about it They didn't prospect aiy
further."
"You would discourage tenderfeet
from entering upon- mining prospect
work, I infer?"
"Now there you're off again, for I
would eneourage them, because I be
1 eve minin' and prospectin' properly
attended to is the best business a man
can follow, but he has got to have right
notions about it."
"Will you please give me some of
these n"tions?" "
"That's just what I come here for,
and if you'll just tell this kid and other
greenies likv h'm what I say, it'll do
em good, or leastwise ought to. To
prospect right a man has got to regard
it as a business he's got to learn, and
if he a'n't got the scads to spend learn
ing: as a boss, he wants to hire out as a
hand and learn it that way."
"But can a tenderfoot get a job as a
miner?"
"Well, minin1 men ain't sighin' to
h're such a chap, but if he's got the
stuff in him to make a good prospector
he will not be discouraged, but will
rustle till some feller hires him. If he
can't git a job in a m ning camp, he'd
better give up all thoughts of being a
prospector, for that takes grit, and
means bard work and lots of it. The
prospector, more than any other man.
rubs up against the biggest kind of
disappointments and sees money and
labor wasted without any whining, be
cause he regards his experience worth
t. and so he go?s from one failure to
another till he does strike it rich. It is
a study to understand ores and the
formations cf different parts of the
country so as to know where to look
for mineral and tell its indications, and
then trace 'em to where nature de
pos ted 'em in bulk. The prospector
ought also to be able, to test in a gen
eral way the rock he finds, to guess
pretty close whether it will pay or not,
and this he can't learn in a day or in
one season. This the Eastern fellers
can't or won't understand, and some of
those smart city clerks are as much out
of place on a rich mineral mountain as
I would be behind a dry-goods coun
ter." "You regard prospecting, then, as
ak'n to a profess' on?''
"That's the t cket, pard. and if the
boys w 11 be content first to learn some
thing of the business they are to fol
low, there won't be such a grand army
of prospectors, as you call it, runnin'
around doiu' no "good and spendin'
money; but the fewer fellers will make
more and better discoveries."
Does prospecting actually pay the
men who follow it up persistently?"
You bet it does, in the long run;
for most of our best mining camps and
mines have b -en found and locat by
them."
Why don't they get rich and be
come d st'nguijdied.. then?"
"Now, that's drawin' it down mighty
line, pard, but I'll tell you the truth,
tho' you might leave that out of the
paper. The fact isf we old prospectors,
after roughin' it from snow to snow,
feel pretty frisky when we " get out of
the mountains, and if we've made a
few hundred by sellin a good prospect
or two, that money fairly burns our
jeans when we hit a lively camp, and
we generally paint 'em red, . 'cos we
know right whar to pull out tv next
spring. If we ain't got no dust it's
about the same, for our credit is par,
you bet, whar our cronies is. Some
times we brace up and go slow to s juar
up, but money's no use 'cept in towns
and camps, and the winter gets mighty
long in such places."
"But do all old prospectors spend
their money as fast as they get itP'
"No; sum has families, and that
keeps 'em down to hard pan, and when
they git a good stake they fixes the
folks and generally quit the mountains.
These fellers make better bargains for
prospects, and hold on and develop
Vm into pay mines, and you would be
astonished to know how many fellers
have got good ranches or are in good
paying business all . over the country
that get their start from the mines."
"Shall I tell your friend to come out
to learn prospecting?"
"Not much; if ns has got folks de
fendin' on him he'd better stay thar.
d no more think of advisin that than
I'd take his advice to come back East
to make a livin' in a store or workin'
on a farm. Won't go out to take su th
in? Well, good-by, pard. I'd rather
proapect than be newspaperin.'
ver Tribune-Republican.
A WISE FATHER,
Humor a Bad Thing. But Candldaer For
Coagres Quite Another.
So you are going to start a humor-
ons paper,
his son.
'lYes, sir.
said an
old gentloman
to
Have you any advice to
offer?"
"Don't start it."
"Why?"
'Oh, there are many reasons, some
of which, in a most seriou manner, I
shall give yon. The quality of humor
is inborn, but the employment of its
finer forces requires the most careful
cultivation. The rough semi-vulgar
sketch :s not humor, it may create a
laugh, but it is not humor. Do you re
member what Addison says of h-amor?"
"No, sir."
'Have you ever read Addison?"
. "Very little."
'What have vou read?"
"Oh, I don't know what all. It
would take me some time to enumer
ate." "I don't think it would. How isyonr
imagination very good?"
"No, sir, I can t say that it is."
"All, hah. I suppose that you
will
attempt to make people laugh?
"Oh. yes. sir."
A fatal error, young man. People
can be slyly drawn into mirth, but you
can not shove them into it. We can
persuade men to weep, but we can not
force them. You no doubt have a good
supply of original jokes."
"Yes, sir, I think so."
"Tell me a few?"
"I can't tell them."
"Well, sit down there and write me
one."
The young man wrote the following:
"Sebleson went to see h"g girl the oth
er night. The old man was at the
lodge. Sebleson enjoyed himself pret
ty well. The girl brought in some pie.
The young fellow said it was first rate,
and asked her if she made it. She sad
yes. Ah, replied the young man,
anybody who cart make such p:e
ought to make a good wife.' Then
they both laughed. 'Did you ever
make any pie?' she asked. 'No,' sa:d
he, 'but I have killed a sight of it.'"
"Is that all?" a ked the old gentle
man when the humorist had, with elo
cutionary effect, read the production
"Yes, but I could make it longer."
Don't do it."
"Father, I am afra'd you don't like
humor.1'
"I am afraid so."
"You didn't sm le, but will you lend
me S2.0J0?"
"What, do you want to pay people to
laugh?"
"Oh, no, I want to buy material."
"Why, you intend to print the paper,
ehP"
"Of course."
" Oh. no, I can not let you have the
money."
"I tell what I thought, father. You
have been suggest 'd as a suitable can
didate for Congress. Well, nothing
more than a good joke helps a man po"
Lt'c.illy. I thought that you might get
off several gcod jokes about yourself
and that I could print them. Of course
everything from you would be interest
ing. You hare a great imagination,
and have read Addison you "
"Two thousand dollars, you sayP
Hand me that cheek-booK, please. Of
course T do not expect to be a candidate
but say, if I were elected, I could
make the country laugh, couldn't I?'
Arkansa.o Traveler.
The Aesthetic Element in Education.
Dr. J. D. Anderson, in a.receut num
ber of Edma'ion, cons ders the testhet
ic element in education. He holds it
to be an essent al duty for the teacher
to inculcate an appreciation of the
beautiful by both precept and example.
He enlarges upon the good influence of
attractive surroundings and insists that
the a.sthefie spirit should pervade
everything in and about the school
room. Among some of the pract cal
sugga tiono he makes is the following:
"A teacher is not going out of
the way of his duty if he cor
rects a boy for coming to school with
unwashed hands or unkempt hair; or
if ha should draw attention to some de
fect in his dressing or cloth'ng; if he
should refer to an unbrushed jacket o
a slovenly-put-on tie. All this comes
within his jurisdetion, and he must ad
judicate upon the delinquencies with
all the soberness and gravity that such
offenses deserve." But this adjudica
tion, it may be added, should be under
taken only by a teacher who is en
downed with very sound judgment, ex
quisite discretion and a very warm
heart. Children may be made alto
gether top prim, and neatnesi too se
verely enforced does not always con
duce' to cheerfulness in the school
room. Current.
IN PERIL.
ailraculous Escape of an Infant from Ap
parently Certain Death. .
One of those strange cases of almost
miraculous protection for infants,, who
feel no fear because they are ignorant
of danger, was given not long since in
a New York paper. The mother's part
in the incident illustrates the firm
strength of love and terror in a
weak hand, and the sudden revul
sion when its work is done. A man in
Stroudsburg, Penn., when passing the
house of Mrs. Franklin Smith, saw her
lying in the yard with two children cry
in by her side. He hastened to her,
ami -paw a few feet away a large ratt e
snake dead. '
Airs. Smith was unconscious, but was
soon l-ewved, and said that her little
child, aged two years, and the child of
a neighbor, aged three, were playiug in
the yard. She had been watching them
from the door, and noticed that while
they were sitting side by side in the
orass. her little one was "occasionally
Fghtly striking in front of her with a
short stick she had in her hand, and
after each stroke both children would
laugh.
The other child at intervals would
bend forward, with her face close to the
ground, and apparentlv stroke tome
t ling with her hand. There had been
a small land-turtle in the yard for some
days, and Mrs. Smith supposed the
children were amusing themselves with
it. She watched them for some time,
and then walked towards them to see
what they were doing to the turtle.
Before she reached them she was
struck motionless with horror at seeing
as their plaything a large rattlesnake,
which lay at full length, making no
hostile demonstration?, simply raising
its head when it was . touched, opening
its mouth, and darting its tongue out
and in.
It was this performance of the snake
that p'easeji the children.
Mrs. Smith as soon as she recovered
herself took a step or two forward, and
the snake discovered her. Instantly its
whole appearance changed. As qu'ck
as lightning it threw itself into the coil
to ma! e its deadly spring, and sounded
its rattle. This alarmed the children,
and they ran away.
Mrs. Smith found a club, and with a
few blows killed the snake, after which
she remembered nothiDg until revived
by her neighbor. The snake was be
tween four and five feet long, and had
seven rattles. Youth's Companion.
DIDN'T SHUT THE DOOR.
Xlffffer Jlm'a Little Deaf and Dumb
Daughter How He Punished Her and
Why He Couldn't Forgive Himself A
Pathetic Story.
'What makes me feel so bad dis
time, uz "bekae I hear sumpn over
yonder on dc bank like a whack er a
slam, while ago, en it mine me of do
time I treat my little 'Lizabeth so
orner-. She warn't only 'bout fo' year
ole, en she tuck de sk'yarlet fever, en
had a powful rough spell; but she got
well, en one day she was a-standin'
aroun', en I says to her, I says:
"Shet de do'.'
'She never done it; jis' stood dah,
kiner smilin' up at me. It make me
mad; en I says agin, mighty loud, I
says:
" 'Doan' you hear me? shet de do'!'
'She jis'"stood do same way, kiner
smilin' up. I was a-biliu'! I says: '
I lay I make you mine! - -
"En wid dat I fet?h her a slap side dc
head dat sont her a sprawlin'. Den 1
went into de yuther room, en 'uz gom
'bout ten minutes; en when I comi
back der was dot do' a-standin' open
yit, en dat chile Mannin' moV right in
it, a-looking down and mournin', en d
tears runnin' down. My, but I wu7
mad. I was ftgwyne for de chile, but
jis den it was a do' day open innerds
jis' den 'long come de wind en slam
it to, behine de chile, kerblam! en my
lan', de chile never move'! My brefl
mos' hop outer me; en I feel so so 1
doan' know bowl feel. I crope out,
all a-tremblin', eu crope aroun' en open
de do' easy an' slow, en poke my- head
in behine de chile, sof en still, en all
uv a sudden I says pow! jis' as loud as
I could yell. She never budge! Oh.
Huck, I bust out a-cryin' en grab her
up in my arms, en say: Oh. de po' little
thing! de Lord God Almighty forgive
po' old Jim, kaze he never gwyue to
forgive hisself a long's lie live! Oh,
sl.e was plumb deef en dumb. Huck,
plumb deef en dumb en I'd ben a
treat'n her so!" Mark Twain.
THE WASHINGTON OBELISK.
Diagram Showinj the Relative Heights
of Some Famous Structures.
5
3
o
tc'
Bo
a, I c
S1
c
C
f-
The above diagram shows the he'ght
of the Washington Monument and that
of some of the test-known edifices in
both henrspheres. The reader will see
at a glance that it is hig'ier than the
Cologne Cathedral, the wondmis Pyra
mid of Cheops and noted historical build
ings. It is, in faet, the tallest tower of
ancient or modern times. Chicago
Tribune.
Do not betray the confidence of
any one.
THE BATTLE OF SHILOH.
An Apparently Impartial and Unpreju
diced View of the Much Mooted Ques
tions Connected with this Important
Affair The Discrepancies of History Il
lustrated The Jssues of the Battle Prob
ably Determined by an Accident. ;
The difficulty which the conscientious
historian has to overcome in getting at
the truth is curiously illustrated by a
careful reading of the two articles on
the "Battle of Shiloh" in the Febniary
Century, the one by General Grant, the
other by Colonel William Preston John
ston, a son of General Johnston, and on
the staff of Jefferson Davis. One gives,
of course, the Federal, the ; other
the Confederate, side. Not only
is their interpretation of the aims and
purposes of the combatants, and in their
estimate of the significance and result
of the first day's battle, do they differ,
but in their accounts of events, even in
minor details. Thus Colonel Johnston
credits Grant with an army of 58,000,
nearly 50,000 of whom were effectives,
while he allows the Confederate com
mander 50,000, of whom but 40,000
were available for combat. General
Grant, on the contrary, gives the entire
strength of the Federal army at 38,00(
if whom not more than 25,000 were in
line on the first day. Of course Gen
eral Grant's statement of his own forces
is official and conclusive; but the fact
illustrates the discrepancies of history.
The battle of Shiloh was one of the
great battles of the war. It was great
whether estimated by the number of
men engaged in it, by the character of
the Generals commanding, by the des
perate nature of the conflict, by the un
certainty of the result during the whole
of the first day. or by the consequences
which ensued from the Confederate de
feat and which might have ensued from
a Jrederal defeat. "The Confederate au
thorities have always insisted that Gen
eral U rant was virtually beaten at the
end of the first day's fight, and that
nothing saved his army but the death
of General Johnston, and the conse
quent change of commanders. Gener
al Grant was freely charged at the time
with being intoxicated, and severely
criticised for putting undisciplined men
at the front without earthworks. Ihe
newspaper correspondents h"ad General
Prentiss' division surprised" and capt
ured at the very beginning of the fight.
Some of these then current errors are
corrected, so far as we know for the firs'
t'me officially, by General Grant's pa
per. General Grant's horse fell on him,
and nearly disabled him, two days be
fore the battle. The raw levies were
put at the front purposely, Gemral
Grant trusting to their commander.
General Sherman, to compensate for
their inexperience a trust reposed not
in yain. And General Prentiss' divis
ion fought bravely and effectively
throughout the day, and were not capt
ured till after four o'clock in the af.er
noon. The man of Northern prejudice t will
read General Grant's paper, and will
but glance at Colonel Johnston's. The
man of Southern prejudices will console
himself with Colonel Johnston's convic
tion that the battle of Shiloh was, won
on the first day, and was lost on the
second only because the "Confederate
commander was killed. The impartial
historian, accepting the veracity, but
not necessarily the judgment', of both
authors will compare the two papers to
reach a true understanding of this mo
mentous battle, and will find in General
Grant's frank confession of his misap
prehension ot the strength of the Con
federacy, and in Colonel Johnston's
disclosure of the divided counsels in the
Confe ierate army the two clues to the
true interpretations of the events of the
day.
"Up to the battle of Shiloh," says
General Grant, "I, as well as thousands
of other citizens, believed that the re
bellion against the Government would
collapse suddenly and soon if a decisive
victory could le gained over any of its
armies." This was substantially the
universal opinion in the North. It was
even shared by many in tho South.
The fall of Forts Donelson and Henry
apparently opened the whole Southwest
to the Federal army. The North be
lieved that further resistance would be
in vain. Thousands in the South
shared that belief. General Grant, as
soon as the dilatory ilalleck gave him
opportunity to move, acted in accord
ance with his subsequent instructions to
General Sherid-an before Richmond and
pushed things. He hurried his army
forward after the retreating Confederate
forces, meaning to give t lem no time to
recover from their demoralization. He
expected no other than a Fabian policy
of slow retreat and sullen, but not
aggressive, resistance. Assuming that
tho Confederates would retreat, if
flushed, he threw up no earthworks,
le put raw levies at the front. He tele
graphed to Ilalleck on Saturday night,
"I have scarcely the faintest idea of an
attack (general ouej being made upon
us." The arm", catching the contagion
of his confidence, perhaps neglected to
keep out scouts in the front. This was
charged at the time by newspaper cor
respondents, and is not specifically de
nied by General Grant, who does speci
fically denv some other analogous
charges. While General Grant was
thus taking for granted that the Con
federate forces would not venture on an
aggressive campaign, the Coniederate
Generals themselves were in deba'o
upon that very point General John
ston, lirt in" command, purposed an
attack. General Beauregard, the popu
lar Southern hero of Bull Run, was op
posed to it. He wished to pursue ti e
policy in the West which General Lee
pursued so effectively in the ;F -st to
prolong the war, weary out the North,
and keep his own army intact, by a de
fensive campaign. General : Johnston
overruled all opposition. He ended t he
counc'l of war on Saturday afternoon
with the decisive declaration: "We
shall attack at d:u light to-mtrrow. I
would light them if they were a mill
ion." Thus both sides entered I the first
day's battle under some disadvantage
The Federal forces were not ex pectin;:
an attack, and were not prepared for
it. Even when it came, they regarded
it at first as only a reconnaissance in
force. (Jeneral Sherman, who was at
the front, so interpreted it. j "Beaure
gard." he said, "is not such a fool as t
leave his base of operations and attack
os in ours." On the other hand, the
Confederates entered on an aggressive
campaign with divided counsels. The
Fecond in command was half sick, had
no faith in an assault, and no expecta
tion of success.
General Grant apparently, ins'sts that
the Federal forces were not defeated on
the first day. But we think the facts
do not bear out this claim. His front,
had been forced back nearly or quite
two miles. General Prentiss' division
had been captured en masse 2,200 offi
cers and men. The Federal camps were
in the possession of the enemy. What
the Confederates could or would have
done on the morrow if their
leadership . had remained un
changed must always remain . a mat
ter of opinion. That the wearied
assailants could have driven the Federal
forces into the river, or cut of their re
treat, and enforced their surrender, is
to us incredible, even if the Federal
army had not - been reinforced bn the
morrow by part of General Bueli's
forces, and by the gunboats. But the
attempt was not even made. The death
of General Johnson devolved the com
mand on General Beauregard; and the
change of commanders brought a
change of policy. At the council of
war on Saturday afternoon General
Beauregard had urged that the army
withdraw, to Corinth. On Monday
morning he ordered that withdrawal to
take place. The first day's battle of
Shiloh was a Confederate attack under
one commander. The second day's
battle was a Confederate retreat under
another commander. Both were meas
urably successful. It is. indeed, rarely
the case that a change of command and
a change of policy takes place on the
field of battle with so little resultant
disaster to the army as resulted to the
Confederates from their change of com
manders and policy at the battle of
Shiloh.
This battle singularly illustrates how
far the fortunes of war depend upon
what we call accident. If General
Johnston had lived he would have pur
sued on Monday the aggressive policy
of Sunday, and his army would have
either won a victory or suffered a rout
And that he did not live was due to ac
cident. A stray shot cut an artery in
his leg. An extemporized tourniquet
would have stopped the bleed'ng. But
half an hour earlier he had dismissed the
surgeon, who up to that time had ac
companied him, to attend wounded
Federal prisoners. There was no one
present at the moment who knew
enough to tie up the ar.ery, and General
Johnston bled to death. His humanity
to Federal prisoners cost him his life.
On the other hand. General Grant, Col
onel McPherson and Major Hawkins,
reconnoitering the iie!d together, sud
denly found themselves subjected to a
sfiarp musket fire from a concealed bat
tery. Major Hawkins lost his hat; Col
onel McPherson's horse was shot
through the body and lived just long
enougLi to take him out of danger; and
the scabbard of General Grant s sword
was talccn off by a ball. If the one ball
had missed General Johnston, and the
other ball had struck (Jeneral Grant,
the commander of the Federal forces,
not of the Confederate force?, would
have been changed, and the issue of the
tattle of Shiloh might have been differ
ent. Christian I'niin.
TOBOGGANING.
Some Speculations a to How the Nest
Craze Will Catch You.
Tobogganing, the contagion of which
seems to have come from Montreal's
two winter carnivals,' threatens to be
the next popular craze. Already arti
ficial hills are being built, where natural
ones do not exist, and some provision
for a glacial surface when ice is not to
be had will doubtless . be forthcoming.
It is a wild, whirling sensation that
takes hold firmer and holds on longer,
perhaps, than the roller skate. It is
thus described:
"Imagine yourself at the summit of
a slope six hundred fejt in height, and
.'et at an angle of sixty degrees. For a
long distance it falls sheer as a night
mare, dazzling white, each little grain
of the snow scintillating like a dia
mond. You straighten your toboggan's
head, and your lady companion bestows
herself in "the bow, tucking her skirts
tightly around her dainty feet, and
drawing her nubia down 4o" shield her
eyes and face. You ensconce yourself
behind her; on one hip if you will, with
the other foot trailing as a rudder;
though my experience teaches me to
prefer a square seat, with the toes in
the near neighborhood of the rearward
buttons of Angelina's sacque, one hand
trailing on eac.i s'de. by whose pressure
(a small section of a broomstick is to bo
commended 'in this connection') the
frail vessel is gui Jed.
"All being in readiness you gently
push your toboggan to the edge of the
precipice. The slender wood creaks,
rustles and bends; from a level the sled
assumes an almost perpendicular po
sition, and the nether world seems to
rise up and smite you in the-face.
Nothing in the universe resembles this
first dizzy swoop. So low is the sled
and so light its fabric, and so tremend
ous the impetus instantly attained,. thai
the impression is one of sitting still
while the universe flies up at you. The
sharp edges of the straining-board cut
rainbows of snow that hiss at vou, and
cover your beard with chilly diamonds
and Angelina's hair l with, priceless
jewels, from either side the grinding
crystals fly behind you like sparks from
a grindstone. You have hardly swal
lowed your heart again when you aro
at the foot of the slope, and with the
bound of a shark touched with th
steel, the sled, striking the level, springs
a dozen feet into the air and landing on
th-3 level snow-crust speeds onward with
scarcely lessening speed till at last it
stops morj than a mile away from the
hill whence you started, and where now
the great p'nes look like scrubby bushes.
In a minute you have gone a mile and
a quarter, and realized the dizzy plunge
of a nightmare and the long, unsup
ported, breathless swoop of the eagle. -Detroit
Free Press.
An English gardener states that
fruit does not color so. well in a sunny
season as in one when there is but little
suns'iine. There was more sunshine in
England last year than during any sea
sou for half a century, b;it stiil the ap-
)les, pears and peacliei were very poor
y colored.
A Mississippi lady grows three hun-
ilrail an1 ftffir vaplafim f TrtCPq in h
garucu every summer .
RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL.
Australia has four universities
which, in curriculum, rank with Har
vard, Oxford and Cambridge.
At Yale seventy-three per cent, of
the students came from other States
than Connecticut; at Harvard forty-five
per cent, came from other than Massa
chusetts. An English lady, Mrs. Havward,
has been engaged as professor of elocu
tion in the Cincinnati law" school, and
the innovation has been received with
favor.
It has been proposed at Harvard
University to. advise with the students
as to rules of order. Possibly it w ould
be better to advise with their parents.
Current.
The Journal of ITcalth says the ill
health of school children is more large
ly due to lack of propir, care home
than inadequate hygienic provisions in
the school-rooms.
A Poughkeeps'e church membsr
knows a woman who puts a five-dollar
bill on the plate every Sunday, and if
she happens to be absent three Sun
days in succession she puts on twenty
dollars next time. Troy Times.
Poking fun at Vassar seems to have
had a bad effect, and the managers of
the institution are really alarmed by
the steady falling off in pupils for five
years past There has been so much
said in ridicule of the students of Vassar
that the girls will not go there.
Ex-Governor Sanford, of San Fran
cisco, states that his proposed univer
sity, projected as a memorial to his
son, will have colleges for young men
and women, and high schools for boys
and girls. He also proposes to found
an institution after the model of the
Cooper Institute of New York; for the
advancement of science and art, with
evening classes for mechanics and
youth.
The one-man-power may becoino
too conspicuous in a church. Once wo
were driving by a rural meeting-housu,
and we asked a man standing near who
were the chief supporters of thatcauxe.
He answered: "Well, I reckon that
Squire Blank is the man that does it all.
He is deacon and sexton and Superin
tendent of the Sunday-cchool. lie doe
everything there but the preaching, and
that he hires done." Watchman.
This year will bring with It the
golden jubilee of Pope Leo's priesthood,
which he received in 1835. It has been
already decided in Italy to celebrate it
by a league of prayers for the triumph
of the church, and the prolongation of
His Holiness life; by an exhibition at
the Vatican of all the offerings which
will be made, specially of objects relat
ing to public worship; by an alms for
the mass, made up of o Serin gs from ihj
entire Catholic world; and fourthly, by
a pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apoi
ties. WIT AND WISDOM.
You can not jump over a mountain,
but step by step takes you to the other
side.
The lad was blowing bubbles wheu
he accidentally swallowed some soap
suds, and that made bub ill. Whitehall
Times.
A St. Louis editor who started with
out a cent forty years ago, is now worth
$100,000. His fortune is all owing to
his own energy, industry and frugality,
and the fact that an uncle recently left
him S99.999.99. Philadelphia Call.
"If man wants to own the earth,
what does woman want?" inquired
Mr. Grap of his better half, after a
little family matinee, a few days ago,
"Well, my dear," responded that lady
in a gentle tone, "to own the man, I
suppose." Boston Post
"I wish you would come to see mo
oftener, Charlie," murmured Claribell,
as they sat iu the front parlor trying
to find out which knew the least "Ah,
but you know, darling, I am here every
night" "Yes, I know that, but I wish
you'd come oftener." Well, but don't
you see if I did I would have to leave
oftener, ha, ha?" "Yes, that was what
I said." And then he asked her if she
knew where ho had put his hat. Chica
go Journal.
"Am I on the right road to the vil
lage?" demanded a traveler of an oi l
darkey who was working in a field.
"Yaas, sah," said tho darkey. Tho
traveler pursued his way, but presently
returned very mad. "I say," he
shouted to the old fellow, "what did you
mean by telling me that I was on the
right road to the village?' "I tol' yo'
de truf, 'deed I did, boss,"' replied the
darkey, "but yo' tuk de wrong direk
shun, sah." Drflke1 Magazine.
- Confessions of a Lowell (Mass.)
journalist: What was almost a plot for
a good ghost story was enacted in the
editorial room oi this paper late one
night recently. One of the ttaff camo
in in the dark and to his horror found
himself confronted by a strange white
shape. Motionless, but full of terror
in its ghostly phosphorescence. St a t
ing back, he hastily struck a ma'ch,
and then at once the mystery was
solved. It was the clean towel we had
given us for Christmas.
"You have a very rich soil here," re
marked a tender-foot to a Dakot i farm
er. "Rich! Well, I should fay so.
Two years ago a young man from the
East came out here. He carried a
snakewood cane. He stuck it iu the
ground and left it here." "I suppose,"
remarked the tenderfoot with a smile,
"you mean to tell mo it sprouted."
"Sprouted! Well. 1 should say it did,
and blossomed, too. Why, last year
I killed ten bushels of black-snakes on
that patch of ground, and each one was
varnished and had a hammered silver
head." N. Y. Graphic
A Mean Man.
Otis S. Richard, of Austin, is a very
stingy man, and particularly to his wife.
They were inMose Schaumburg's store
a few days ago, and Mrs. Richard
hinted that she wanted a blue silk
dress.
"Nonsense, blue doesn't suit your
complexion, at alL" m
"Then 111 take a green dres."
44 Do you want to poison yourself?
Don't you know that all these green
dresses are poisonous?"
44 Then you pick me out a dress."
"That's the trouble. You see I don't
like any other colors except blue and
and green." Texas Silings.